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Who's Who - Grand Duke Mikhail

Grand Duke Mikhail (1878-1918) was
Nicholas II's nominated successor as Tsar of Russia in March 1917.

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Mikhail served with
the Russian Army - and was commander of the Imperial Guard for many years - in addition to his role as a member of the royal family.
He subsequently
alienated his brother Tsar
Nicholas II by choosing to elope with a twice-divorced commoner, Natalia
Wulfert, whom he met in 1906.

Consequently exiled to
Austria in disgrace he was permitted to return to the motherland with the
outbreak of the First World War in 1914 and was given command of the
so-called 'Wild Division' (which subsequently fought in the White Army
following the revolution). In spite of his return he could not lay any
claim to intimacy with the Tsar, who continued to regard his marriage to
Wulfert as a gross betrayal of royal duty.

Although the
Tsar abdicated in favour of Mikhail in March 1917 - much to the latter's
surprise - in the wake of the February Revolution, Mikhail
chose to decline
the throne unless it was offered him by a popularly elected constituent assembly. In the absence of such a circumstance he offered full support to the
Provisional Government.

"We bequeath Our
inheritance to Our brother the Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich and give him
Our Blessing on his accession to the throne."

Tsar Nicholas II when
abdicating in favour of Grand Duke Mikhail

Mikhail's moderation did not endear him to
the Bolsheviks however. As 'Tsar for a day', and having aided
Alexander Kerenski's
escape from Russia (he obtained him a Danish passport), he was imprisoned
and murdered in June 1918.

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Saturday, 22 August, 2009Michael Duffy

The first zeppelin raid on London was on 31 May 1915. Earlier raids in January 1915 had avoided London. The London raid resulted in 28 deaths and 60 injuries.